Five Minutes with a Friend: Natalie Stopka
Before colour is fixed in a tube or swatched on a chart, it is still in flux. It shifts in tone with the seasons, its shades shaped by soil, weather, and time. It is within this moment of transformation that Natalie Stopka’s work takes root. Her practice begins at that point of change, where plant matter becomes pigment and colour stays connected to the conditions that produced it.
Botanical dyestuff's, ready for immersion in a dye bath.
A leading practitioner and artistic researcher of botanical pigments, Stopka has spent over a decade sharing her expertise and deep knowledge of plant colour with students and makers. She focuses on the material history of colour and sustainable studio practice, working with a seasonally changing palette that is ethically foraged or cultivated in her studio garden. These hues, drawn from the soil underfoot and the water that moves through it, root each artwork firmly in place, carrying with them a sense of origin and environment.
The process from start to finish, from flowers to extracted pigments.
Her work brings together material research, studio practice, and ecological awareness. The resulting compositions embrace variation and unpredictability, revealing colour as something lived rather than standardised. This attention to process extends into her teaching and writing, where she encourages a more tactile and thoughtful engagement with materials.
Stopka’s recent book, From Plant to Pigment (Skittledog, 2025), reflects this balance of rigour and accessibility, offering practical guidance alongside a wider reflection on sustainable making and the history of colour.
Testing plant pigment shades on fabric.
Now, her book comes to life as Selvedge welcomes Natalie Stopka for a series of online events. On Wednesday 22 April 2026, she will give a live talk in a 'Meet the Maker' session, exploring her creative journey and artistic approach, followed by a Q&A. She will also lead a two-part workshop, "Floral Pigments & Botanical Fabric Painting", on 6 and 13 June, introducing participants to the process of turning flowers into lasting pigments and working with them on silk.
Ahead of these events, we caught up with Natalie for "5 Minutes with a Friend" to learn more:
Natalie Stopka
Natalie Stopka gathering botanical dyestuffs.
Natalie, what is your earliest memory of a textile?
My yellow blanket with satin trim. I also doted upon a quilt top made by my great-grandmother, each square boasting an appliquéd calico butterfly.
How would you describe what draws you to textiles and the world of making?
A thread of artisanry that stretches back through untold generations – it’s time travel! And a way of enacting care for our loves ones in the same manner that’s been practiced for eons.
If you create textiles, where do you feel most inspired to work?
As close as possible to the blazing wood stove.
Testing plant pigment shades through the medium of ink and solid pigments.
What has sparked your imagination or inspired you recently?
I enjoy reading historical art and illumination manuals, and recently found a wonderfully conversational 15th century recipe for blue ink I’d like to try.
What is your most treasured textile, and what story does it carry?
When cooking family meals I wear a threadbare apron my mother made for her new mother-in-law 51 years ago. It’s been present for so many shared celebrations across the generations, and brings a spirit of care into the kitchen.
Sappanwood releasing pigment. Image: From Plant to Pigment, by Natalie Stopka.
Where did you first learn your craft, and who shaped your early approach to making?
I work primarily with natural and historical plants and pigments. I have a clear memory of digging onions in the garden with my mother, and using those onion skins to dye skeins of wool. It was magical to manifest beautiful colour from something so humdrum.
Is there a piece of music you return to while you work, that sets the rhythm of your making?
When creativity is flowing in the studio, Radiohead keeps me in the zone. But when I need to wash the mountain of dye pots and beakers in the sink, Fleetwood Mac pulls me through.
Pigment dye colours in preparation.
What material or technique are you currently experimenting with or curious to explore further?
I’m on a fermentation tear! Enlisting legions of microbes to gradually break down dye plants and release their hidden colour is ancient, water-wise, energy-saving, and incredibly effective at maximising the colour yield.
If you could collaborate with any maker—past or present—who would it be, and why?
I know that Alessio Piemontese, the alchemist and physician who compiled a famous 16th century book of secret recipes, was probably a nom de plume rather than a wealthy world traveler ferreting out the secrets of nature. The true compiler was more likely Girolamo Ruscelli, the humanist, cartographer, and polygraph who was a member of the first known experimental scientific society in Naples. How fascinating! He had his finger on the pulse of art, science, medicine, and the blossoming experimental method. We could write some great colour recipes together.
What does a perfect day of making look like for you?
It entails tuning my attention to my materials and following their lead, such that we harmonise together in creating something unexpected but wonderful. And Girolamo can wash the dirty dye pots for me.
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Further Information:
For tickets to the following online Selvedge events, please click the links below:
Meet the Maker:
Natalie Stopka, Wednesday 22 April 2026, 5 - 6pm BST
Online Workshop:
Floral Pigments & Botanical Fabric Painting
Saturday 6 & 13 June 2026, 2 - 5pm BST
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Image Credits:
All images courtesy of Natalie Stopka.